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THE FAMILY
God has ordained the family as the
foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to
one another by marriage, blood or adoption. Marriage is the uniting of one man and
one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God’s unique gift to
reveal the union between Christ and His church, and to provide for the man and
the woman in marriage the framework for intimate companionship, the channel for
sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreation
of the human race. The husband and wife are of equal worth
before God, since both are created in God’s image. The marriage relationship
models the way God relates to His people. A husband is to love his wife as
Christ loved the church. He has the God-given responsibility to provide for, to
protect, and to lead his family. A wife is to submit herself graciously to the
servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the
headship of Christ. She, being in the image of God as is her husband and thus
equal to him, has the God-given responsibility to respect her husband and to
serve as his helper in managing the household and nurturing the next generation. Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents are to demonstrate to their children God’s pattern for marriage. Parents are to teach their children spiritual and moral values and to lead them, through consistent lifestyle example and loving discipline, to make choices based on biblical truth. Children are to honor and obey their parents. |